Rui Fonte and Amaury Bischoff called into senior squad

The French coach traditionally uses the competition – the least important in England – to blood his up-and-coming stars. Following bright performances by Fonte and Bischoff in Arsenal’s reserve team, both players stand a good chance of making their first-team debuts tonight.

Last week midfielder Bischoff was the star of the show as Arsenal reserves beat Fulham reserves 3-0. The French-born Portuguese scored a superb long-range volley and set up another goal.

The Portugal U21 player was a surprise purchase by the Gunners in the close season from Werder Bremen. After recovering from a long-term injury the 21-year-old is starting to show exactly why the wily Wenger wanted to add him to his squad.

Striker Rui Fonte has also been making steady progress at the London club. The striker is a regular starter for Portugal’s U17 team where he has an excellent goalscoring record.

Fonte also got on the scoresheet in the victory over Fulham, and given that Arsenal’s regular front men, Adebayor, Van Persie and Theo Walcott are all out of action, tonight’s match could be an ideal opportunity for the Portuguese forward to make his mark.

The 18-year-old was recruited from Sporting two years ago, and has been carefully groomed in the London club’s highly reputed youth system. This summer he joined the senior squad in pre-season preparations.